Hi all. The past six months+ of searching for an old iron drill press (Fobco 7/8 or 10/8 etc) or a good quality mill drill (Arboga U 2508 etc) hasn't been successful - it starts to look like the dealers have the market cornered in the UK with the result that anything in decent condition is costing well north of £1,000 and more. Then there's shipping and the risk of problems...
I'm on the brink of capitulating and buying an Eastern made drill - possibly a SIP 01438 F32-20: http://www.sipuk.co.uk/sip-01438-profes ... -230v.html Looks very similar to this Axminster: http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-tr ... rill-press Not terribly keen based on previous experience of cheap drills, but i've been offered one locally in Ireland at very good money and while not tested TBH it seems quite well made. Decent chuck, 120mm spindle travel (prefer a bit more) etc.
The issue with pillar drills these days seems to be that higher spec models become engineering focused - very heavy, but with minimal reach, low speed ranges and short spindle travel. Not suited to woodworking. There's some nice variable speed/long spindle travel/decent depth stop woodworking focused models sold in the US, but seemingly not here.
Does anybody have any experience of one of these SIPs, or something similar they can recommend? Hoping that as a 'higher end' model in the range it's maybe better built, and while I'd prefer the abilty to go lower than 200rpm fitting a VFD on a 3 phase model might be an option. (pesuming they are dual voltage) Good chuck, minimal runout, solid table that stays square?
I'm on the brink of capitulating and buying an Eastern made drill - possibly a SIP 01438 F32-20: http://www.sipuk.co.uk/sip-01438-profes ... -230v.html Looks very similar to this Axminster: http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-tr ... rill-press Not terribly keen based on previous experience of cheap drills, but i've been offered one locally in Ireland at very good money and while not tested TBH it seems quite well made. Decent chuck, 120mm spindle travel (prefer a bit more) etc.
The issue with pillar drills these days seems to be that higher spec models become engineering focused - very heavy, but with minimal reach, low speed ranges and short spindle travel. Not suited to woodworking. There's some nice variable speed/long spindle travel/decent depth stop woodworking focused models sold in the US, but seemingly not here.
Does anybody have any experience of one of these SIPs, or something similar they can recommend? Hoping that as a 'higher end' model in the range it's maybe better built, and while I'd prefer the abilty to go lower than 200rpm fitting a VFD on a 3 phase model might be an option. (pesuming they are dual voltage) Good chuck, minimal runout, solid table that stays square?
